Processes for treating water in order to make it more acceptable for a desired end-use are well known, and are used in many fields, such as sewage treatment, agricultural waste water treatment, and industrial waste water treatment. In general, the goal of water treatment processes is to remove existing contaminants from the water, or at least to reduce the contaminant concentration in the water, so that the water becomes suitable for a desired end-use, such as returning the water to nature without adverse ecological impact.
Industrial waste water treatment includes two main types of processes, boiler water treatment and cooling water treatment. Proper water treatment is crucial, as lack of proper water treatment can affect various aspects of water treatment and use, from public health issues (e.g. poor quality dirty water can become breeding ground for bacteria such as Legionella) to energy efficiency and safety of machinery.
Specifically, steam boilers may suffer from scale deposits on the walls of the boiler and/or pipes, particularly because there are no specific requirements regarding the quality of the water used in such boilers. The thermal conductivity coefficient of scale deposit is one hundred times smaller than that of metals, and the thermal resistance of such deposits is high. The large thermal resistance and low thermal conductivity coefficient cause heat loss from the system resulting in excessive fuel consumption. On the other hand, the metal walls on which the scale is deposited become overheated, which may lead to pipes bulging and even bursting.
Typically, removal of scale deposits requires shutdown of the boilers and associated systems. Additionally, scale deposits are removed using sharp metal instruments. As a result, scale deposit removal involves labor, materials, and at times causes mechanical damages and/or chemical erosion to the boilers and pipes.
Though the composition of scale deposits is complex and dependent on the contaminants present in the water, often times at least part of the scale deposit is formed of carbonate materials deposited on the boiler body, such as calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and magnesium carbonate (MgCO3). A secondary scale deposit is often formed by alkaline metal residuals attaching to an existing deposit. Scale deposit formation can be described by the following chemical equations:Ca(HCO3)2CaCO3(s)+H2O(l)+CO2(g) Mg(HCO3)2MgCO3(s)+H2O(l)+CO2(g) MgHCO3(s)+H2O(l)Mg(OH)2(s)+CO2(g) 
As seen from the equations, the level of chemical reactivity of water molecules affects the equilibrium of the equations. Thus, highly chemically reactive water can prevent the formation of scale, and can even cause the removal of existing scale deposits from the boiler. However, natural water is not highly chemically reactive.
Water molecule clusters are formed because the negative charges in the oxygen atoms in a water molecule are not completely neutralized when combined with hydrogen atoms to form water molecules. As a result, water molecules in a given sample will include a certain amount of oxygen atoms bearing a negative charge. Such negatively charged oxygen atoms which attract hydrogen atoms of neighboring water molecules, and form hydrogen bonds therewith. Water molecules that are bonded together via hydrogen bonds form water molecule clusters, defined chemically by the formula (H2O)n.
Water molecule clusters tend to be inertial in their physical properties and chemical reactivity, and typically do not break apart even when encountering highly active substances in nature. This feature of the water keeps it stable in the environment. Furthermore, destruction of hydrogen bonds is extremely endothermic, and requires a large amount of heat to be added to the water before the hydrogen bonds are broken and the water becomes more chemically reactive.
As a result, there is a need for a more energy efficient method of breaking up water clusters, particularly for use in water treatment facilities such as water treatment boilers. While attempts have been made to provide methods for increasing the reactivity of water molecules, these attempts continue to involve the investment of large amount of energy from an external source and require large power consumption.